upon taking office, he faced the largest per capita deficit in the country, a total debt of about $3.5 billion. before taking office he did several terms as mayor of stanford, connecticut, from 1995 to 2009, and what's particularly relevant to us today for this conversation is promising to make 2012 the year of education in connecticut, he tackled a reform agenda in a state that has long been known for one of the nation's widest racial achievement gaps. and the governor took the lead in passing one of the nation's more dramatic education bills. signed it in may 2012. it was public act 12116, an act concerning education reform. some of the package's most significant features required a new teacher evaluation pilot in which 45% of the evaluation would be based on student learning. the governor's package created a commissioner's network similar to the recovery school district in louisiana which has the ability to take authority over 25 of the state's lowest performing schools. to date, 11 have been entered into that network. and it increased per-pupil charter school funding to $10,500 in